Virginia State Route 110 (SR 110) is a primary

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either Route number, numbered or maintained by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered ...

Arlington Arlington most often refers to: *Arlington, Virginia **Arlington National Cemetery, a United States military cemetery *Arlington, Texas Arlington may also refer to: Places Australia *Arlington light rail station, on the Inner West Light Rail in S ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. Known as the Richmond Highway (formerly Jefferson Davis Highway), the state highway runs from

U.S. Route 1 U.S. Route 1 or U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that serves the East Coast of the United States. It runs from Key West, Florida, north to Fort Kent, Maine, at the Canadian border, ...

(US 1) and Interstate 395 (I-395) in Crystal City north to

I-66 Interstate 66 (I-66) is a 76.32 mile east–west Interstate Highway in the East Coast of the United States, eastern United States. The highway runs from an interchange with Interstate 81 in Virginia, I-81 near Middletown, Virginia, on its w ...

in the Rosslyn neighborhood. SR 110 is a four- to six-lane

freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...

(with the exception of one

at-grade intersection An intersection or an at-grade junction is a junction where two or more roads converge, diverge, meet or cross at the same height, as opposed to an interchange, which uses bridges or tunnels to separate different roads. Major intersections ar ...

and a few driveways) that parallels the

Potomac River The Potomac River () is in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and flows from the Potomac Highlands in West Virginia to Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography D ...

, providing a connection between several of Arlington's

urban village In urban planning and urban design, design, an urban village is an urban development typically characterized by medium-density housing, mixed use zoning, good public transit and an emphasis on pedestrianization and public space. Contemporary urb ...

s and major landmarks, including

the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense, in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The building was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As ...

, which is the headquarters of the

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and superv ...

, and the grounds of

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the United States National Cemetery System, one of two maintained by the United States Army. More than 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington County, Virginia. ...

. The highway also provides access to SR 27, an east–west freeway between the Pentagon and the cemetery, and the

George Washington Parkway The George Washington Memorial Parkway, colloquially the G.W. Parkway, is a limited-access parkway that runs along the south bank of the Potomac River from Mount Vernon, Virginia, northwest to McLean, Virginia, and is maintained by the National ...

that parallels the

. SR 110 is a part of the National Highway System for its entire length. SR 110 is a part of the

Pentagon road network The Pentagon road network is a system of highways, mostly freeways, built by the United States Federal government of the United States, federal government in the early 1940s to serve the Pentagon in northern Virginia. The roads, transferred to t ...

, a network of freeways and surface roads built concurrent with the construction of the Pentagon in the early 1940s. The state highway received its numerical designation in 1964 when maintenance responsibility was transferred to the

Virginia Department of Transportation The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) is the agency of the U.S. state, state government responsible for transportation in the state of Virginia in the United States. VDOT is headquartered at the Virginia Department of Highways Buildin ...

. SR 110's most significant changes in routing were relocation of the highway in Rosslyn to tie into I-66 in the 1980s and relocation of the freeway at the Pentagon to provide a larger security buffer for the building after the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

. The highway is sometimes closed for large events held at or around the Pentagon, including the

Marine Corps Marathon The Marine Corps Marathon (MCM) is an annual marathon held in Washington, D.C., and Arlington County, Virginia. The mission of the MCM is to promote physical fitness, generate community goodwill, and showcase the organizational skills of the Unit ...

. In 2019, SR 110 was renamed to Richmond Highway.

Route description

SR 110 begins at a partial interchange with US 1 (the southern continuation of the Richmond Highway) in Crystal City where US 1 joins I-395 to cross the 14th Street Bridge into Washington; the interchange allows access to and from US 1 in the direction of Alexandria. Immediately to the north, the state highway has a partial interchange with I-395 ( Henry G. Shirley Memorial Highway) that allows access from southbound SR 110 to northbound I-395 and US 1 and from southbound I-395 to northbound SR 110. The southbound exit ramp also includes a ramp for Army–Navy Drive, one of the main streets of

Pentagon City Pentagon City is an unincorporated neighborhood located in the southeast portion of Arlington County, Virginia. It is located near The Pentagon and Arlington National Cemetery. Location Pentagon City is located less than a mile from the Potomac ...

. North of I-395, SR 110 heads north with six lanes immediately to the east of the Pentagon reservation. The southbound freeway has ramps to and from the Pentagon South Parking area, which serves as the main and visitor entrance to the Department of Defense headquarters. SR 110 passes under a pair of pedestrian bridges from Pentagon parking areas on between Boundary Channel Drive, which parallels the freeway, and the

Boundary Channel Boundary Channel is a Channel (geography), channel off the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. The channel begins at the northwestern tip of Columbia Island (District of Columbia), Columbia Island extends southward between Columbia Island and the V ...

Pentagon Lagoon In geometry, a pentagon () is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple pentagon is 540°. A pentagon may be simple or self-intersecting. A self-intersecting ''regular pentagon'' (or ''star pentagon'') is cal ...

. SR 110 has a southbound exit to and entrance from the Pentagon Mall Terrace and River Terrace areas before the highway leaves the vicinity of the Pentagon by passing under SR 27 (Washington Boulevard). The partial interchange between the highways allows access from eastbound SR 27 to northbound SR 110 and from southbound SR 110 to westbound SR 27, which leads to southbound I-395 and SR 244 (Columbia Pike). North of SR 27, the freeway passes between the

Washington Metro The Washington Metro, often abbreviated as the Metro and formally the Metrorail, is a rapid transit system serving the Washington metropolitan area of the United States. It is administered by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority ...

's Blue Line on the east and the grounds of Arlington National Cemetery to the west. SR 110 has a northbound exit to and southbound entrance from Memorial Drive, which is the main entrance to the national cemetery and also leads to the

Arlington Memorial Bridge The Arlington Memorial Bridge, often shortened to Memorial Bridge, is a Neoclassical masonry, steel, and stone arch bridge with a central bascule (or drawbridge) that crosses the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United Sta ...

to Washington and the

George Washington Memorial Parkway The George Washington Memorial Parkway, colloquially the G.W. Parkway, is a limited-access road, limited-access parkway that runs along the south bank of the Potomac River from Mount Vernon, Virginia, northwest to McLean, Virginia, and is maint ...

. SR 110 continues north with four lanes and has its sole at-grade intersection at Marshall Drive, which leads to the

Marine Corps War Memorial The United States Marine Corps War Memorial (Iwo Jima Memorial) is a national memorial located in Arlington Ridge Park in Arlington County, Virginia. The memorial was dedicated in 1954 to all United States Marine Corps, Marines who have given t ...

, also known as the Iwo Jima Memorial, and the

Netherlands Carillon The Netherlands Carillon is a 127-foot (39-m) tall campanile housing a 53-bell carillon located in Arlington County, Virginia. The instrument and tower were given in the 1950s "From the People of the Netherlands to the People of the United States ...

. The highway leaves the cemetery for the urban village of Rosslyn, where the highway reaches its northern terminus. SR 110 passes under US 50 with no access then has a northbound exit and southbound entrance for Wilson Boulevard, one of the main streets of Rosslyn. Immediately to the north, the highway ends at a partial interchange with I-66 allowing access to and from the direction of

Falls Church Falls Church City is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,658. Falls Church is part of both Northern Virginia and the Washington metropolitan area. As of 2020, it has ...

. Westbound I-66 leads to

Dulles International Airport Washington Dulles International Airport ( ) – commonly known by its former name of Dulles International Airport, by its airport code of IAD, or simply as Dulles Airport – is an international airport in the Eastern United States, located w ...

and

Front Royal Front Royal is the only incorporated town in Warren County, Virginia, United States. The population was estimated at 15,400 as of 2023. It is the county seat of Warren County. History The entire Shenandoah Valley including the area to beco ...

History

The road was constructed as a part of the Pentagon Road network during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Those roads were transferred to the Virginia Department of Highways on December 17, 1964, and assigned the number SR 110. At this time, the north end was reconfigured to accommodate the construction to the

Theodore Roosevelt Bridge The Theodore Roosevelt Bridge (also known as the Teddy Roosevelt Bridge, Roosevelt Bridge, or T.R. Bridge) is a bridge crossing the Potomac River which connects Washington, D.C., with the Commonwealth of Virginia. The bridge crosses over Theodore ...

in 1964 over the Potomac River and the re-routing of

Arlington Ridge Road Arlington Ridge Road (originally known as Mount Vernon Avenue) is a street through residential areas and business districts in Arlington County, Virginia in the United States. South Arlington Ridge Road is roughly 1.5 miles in length and extends fr ...

. As a result, the north end of SR 110 was shifted west toward the prior bridge that carried US 50 over Arlington Ridge Road. SR 110 then proceeded north on the Arlington Ridge Road right-of-way, under the new bridges that carried the approaches to the Roosevelt Bridge reaching Wilson Boulevard. The road extended north to merge with the future I-66 at the Virginia end of the Roosevelt Bridge. Until the 1980s, this extension ended with the exit and entrance ramps to Lee Highway at Lynn Street. However, when I-66 was completed, this stub was extended so that SR 110 had full access to westbound I-66. One block of the historic Arlington Ridge Road was left to act as a frontage road between Wilson Boulevard and 15th Street North. Following the

, SR 110 was closed to trucks and tour buses due to its proximity to the Pentagon. Police checkpoints were staffed around the clock to enforce this restriction. In September 2002, a contract was awarded to reroute SR 110 to increase the standoff distance between vehicles and the Pentagon. The project, called the Pentagon Secure Bypass, was completed in 2004. SR 110 was shifted eastward in a long arc to maintain a buffer distance from the Pentagon and a two-lane bridge to provide access to the Pentagon North parking lot and two pedestrian bridges were built over the new route. These and related security improvements cost $35 million (equivalent to $ in ) and were completed in October 2004. In April 2019, the Arlington County Board voted to rename SR 110 to Richmond Highway. This went into effect in October 2019.

Exit list

References

External links

{{Attached KML, display=title,inline
Virginia Highways Project: VA 110AARoads: VA 110

110 110 may refer to: *110 (number), natural number *AD 110, a year *110 BC, a year *110 film, a cartridge-based film format used in still photography * 110 (MBTA bus), Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority bus route *110 (song), 2019 song by Cap ...

State Route 110